Cumbria County Council is currently undertaking a £4,565,000 road improvement investment as part of a county-wide surface dressing programme. The works began in May and are scheduled to be completed in mid-July. The works will address surface issues at over 100 individual sites across the county to help keep Cumbria moving.
Cumbria has 4,908 miles of highways and it is important that we maintain the network with treatments that provide the best value for money. Surface dressing prolongs the life of the surface layer of the road which delays the need for expensive solutions such as full road reconstruction.
Surface dressing extends the life of the road by sealing the surface, thereby preventing the road surface from deteriorating and delaying the development of potholes. It also helps to waterproof the structural layers of the road and improves resistance against the freeze / thaw weather cycle.
As Phase 1 of the £4.5m surface dressing programme comes to an end, the council’s highways teams will be undertaking stud and road marking removal works in Barrow, Copeland, Eden and South Lakeland, commencing on Monday 17 June 2019 for 2-3 weeks.
Phase 2 of the surface dressing programme will then commence from Monday 1 July 2019, with the focus moving onto the principal road network. Larger machinery will be deployed, ideally suited to longer, wider roads, meaning that larger areas can be treated in one pass, helping to minimise disruption and reduce carbon emissions.
Cllr Keith Little, Cumbria County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highways, said: “This essential package of road maintenance works will replace worn-out sections of routes across the county with a new, hard-wearing road surface, making journeys much smoother for drivers.
“We recognise the importance of the road network in Cumbria and the resurfacing works will be coordinated to minimise disruption and delays. There may be some disruption during this period and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience. We would ask drivers to plan ahead and allow extra time for journeys.”
The breakdown of funding for each district is as follows:
- Allerdale – £550,000
- Barrow – £175,000
- Carlisle – £650,000
- Copeland – £840,000
- Eden – £975,000
- South Lakeland – £1,375,000
